In a hurry? No time to cook from scratch? Need a quick and tasty dinner cooked straight from the freezer? Yes, sometimes we all do!

Although I’m not normally one to buy ready meals, sometimes we all have to make sure dinner is on the table quickly if we’re in a rush, and the other night was no exception. As I was late in from work, and rushing to get out the door again, it called for me to have a ‘quick on draw’ dinner. Luckily, Patak’s had sent me one of their new range of frozen Chicken Tikka Masala ready meals to review so I could get this out of the freezer, into the microwave and on the table in a matter of only 10 minutes, which was hardly time to get changed and ready to go out again!

The packaging says it’s medium strength, however I personally think it was quite mild. The chicken was lean and stayed succulent in a generous portion of sauce and the pilau rice stayed in individual grains and not a gloopy lump of stodge. The smell was so tantalising that my husband appeared and miraculously managed to have a fork in his hand to dig in and share my dinner; the cheeky boy!

As the mother of a son at Uni, I think this would also make a perfect freezer filler for him during study time when the books are calling and there is less time for him to cook his own curry from scratch.

At 550 Calories per pack, it’s possibly a little higher than I would normally eat, however the saturated fat at 3.4g made it a less of a guilt and more of a pleasure and much more of reasonable calorific intake than a take away curry would. I’d certainly buy a couple of these as quick stand by dinners for my freezer.

Thanks to Patak’s PR company for arranging to send me a sample to review.

One of the recipes I’m sharing with you using the deliciously nutty and seasonal Jersey Royal Potatoes in collaboration with Asda is for a vegetable curry. Inspired from a recipe my husband found online, he’s adapted and cooked this one for me (as I’m currently recovering from having knee surgery a couple of days ago, and therefore not able to stand for periods of time). Thanks Will x

The ingredients aren’t set in stone for this one; add or remove ingredients that you do or don’t like. (I personally don’t like mushrooms, but he does, so they went in and I picked them out of my dinner). The Mange Tout came from our garden, the French beans were reduced in price in our local supermarket as they had to be sold on the day, as was the courgette. All other ingredients we had at home as staples in our cupboards/fridge. It looks like a lot of ingredients, I know!

30ml Sunflower oil

2.5ml Black Mustard seeds

2.5ml Cumin seeds

2.5ml Fennel seeds

2.5ml Fenugreek seeds

3 Cardamon pods

1 medium Red onion, chopped

1 large White onion, chopped

3 sticks Celery, diced

2 medium carrots, diced

2.5cm fresh Ginger, grated

5 cloves Garlic, crushed

5ml Salt

Medium sweet potato, cubed

10-12 Jersey Royals, cubed

5ml Chilli powder

5ml Turmeric

5ml Cumin

5ml ground Coriander

1 whole Chilli, finely chopped

handful of French Beans, sliced in half horizontally

8-10 Mange Tout, sliced in half horizontally

1 cup frozen Peas

1 medium Courgette, diced

50g button Mushrooms, halved

Can coconut milk

Fresh coriander, chopped.

Prepare all your vegetables as above. You can keep the following together in bowls as they’ll be added to the curry together in batches:

Red and white onions.

Celery and carrots.

Sweet potato and Jersey Royals.

French beans and mange tout.

Peas and courgettes.

Mushrooms.

(This is how my husband preps his ingredients to cook – I have to leave the kitchen; it’s all too much organisation for me!)

2. In a large saucepan/frying pan with a lid, heat the oil and add your mustard seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds and cardamon pods. Cook for 2-3 minutes to allow the flavours to infuse the oil. The seeds may start to pop as they cook, don’t worry, this is normal.

3. Add the celery and the carrots, stir to coat evenly in the spiced oil and cook on a medium heat for 2-3 minutes.

Jersey Royals are a delicious, nutty flavoured, little new potato, grown exclusively on the beautiful British island of Jersey, just off the west coast of France. They’re naturally fertilised with Vraic (seaweed) that is washed up on the shores from the tidal flows and have been grown on Jersey for over 130 years. The majority of these tasty little morsels are still hand lifted from the ground by the island’s 20 major farmers. They’re high in vitamin C and fibre as well as containing less calories than both pasta and rice. They have less fat than cous cous and they’re gluten free too. Their slow releasing carbohydrates make them perfect for a low GI diet; keeping your fuller for longer thereby keeping hunger at bay.

In order for potatoes to be sold as Jersey Royals, they must be grown on the island and they have been awarded EU Protected Designation of Origin (PDO), thereby ensuring their provenance and integrity. Jersey grows, harvests and exports between 30-40,000 tonnes per year, and at the peak season in May, can export up to 1,500 tonnes per day! That’s a whole lot of potatoes!!!!

So, what can you do with Jersey Royals then? Well, they’re absolutely perfect for boiling, steaming or roasting in their skins. Having cold with a salad, enrobed in creamy garlic infused mayonnaise, sprinkled gently with freshly chopped chives. Alternatively, why not make a delicious vegetable curry with them?

Having spatchcocked the chicken, placed it on a trivet of sweet potatoes and onions and originally intending to make a roast dinner out of it, I changed my mind when the chicken was cooked and had come out of the oven, so I made a quick & easy chicken curry out of it instead. Here’s how:

2. Turn the chicken onto it’s breast and, using a pair of robust scissors, cut down each side of the spine to remove it.

3. Turn the chicken over and open out the legs and the wings.

4. Press down on the ribcage until it cracks and the chicken flattens out.

5. Peel and quarter the sweet potatoes and onions.

6. Place into the centre of a large roasting dish and place the chicken on top, breast & skin side up.

7. Pour in 200ml cold water & cover tightly with foil.

8. Roast for 1 1/2-2 hours until well cooked.

9. Remove the chicken from the pan, cover and allow to rest.

10. Pour the meat juices, sweet potato and onions into a saucepan and add the Knorr Curry Flavour Pot.

11. Bring to the boil and then add the mango chutney, adjusting the quantity to taste.

12. Blitz the curry sauce with a stick blender until smooth.

13. Bring a large pan of water to the boil, then add the Clearspring rice trio.

14. Gently boil the rice for 10 minutes, or until cooked and then drain.

15. Meanwhile, flake the chicken into pieces.

16. Serve the rice, making a hollow in the centre.

17. Add the flaked chicken to the centre of the rice and spoon some curry sauce over the top.

18. Garnish with chopped coriander and serve with naan bread.

The Clearspring Rice Trio was sent to me free of charge to sample. All other ingredients were purchased by me personally and were not sponsored. I was under no obligation to publish content using the box of rice sent to me. We found the rice trio combination to be tasty, as well as enjoying the different textures of the Basmati, long grain brown and the Wholegrain rice.